Radiotelephones, such as cellular telephones, have become increasingly popular for both personal and commercial use. Radiotelephones have also become smaller to facilitate storage and portability. Consequently, space or "real estate" on circuit boards hosting electronic components within radiotelephones has become somewhat limited.
A lightguide within a radiotelephone may be utilized to illuminate a keypad of translucent keys via a light source internal to the radiotelephone. A lightguide may also be utilized to support a keypad and a liquid crystal display (LCD) for the radiotelephone. The lightguide may be placed directly on a circuit board hosting electronic components for generating and receiving telecommunications signals. The circuit board beneath a lightguide may include conductive pads, each associated with a respective key of the keypad. Each key typically has an end that extends through the lightguide and is operably engageable with a respective conductive pad. Unfortunately, because of the required spacing between keys, the conductive pads and the conductive traces associated with the conductive pads can occupy much of the circuit board real estate beneath a lightguide. As a result, much of the circuit board space beneath a lightguide may be unusable for hosting electronic components thereon. Furthermore, the placement of through-hole vias may be limited.